Ship-hull cleaner.



J. M. TOWNE & P. E. GIBSON.

SHIP HULL CLEANER.

APPLIQATIOII nun P234, 1910.

Patented Oct. 25, 1910 YEW ATTORNEYS ,J EN'MACK TOWN-E AND PAUL nnnnsromsonfbr' 'iAMPA, Edema;

sni -from CLEANER.

Specification of Letters Patent. 4 Patented Oct. 25, 191() Application filed February 4; 1910. Serial No. 542,901.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that we, J on): and PAUL Eaxns'r GInsoN, bothcitizens of the United States, and rcsidents of Tampa,

. receive a nut: it.

in the county of Hillsboro and State of Florida, have invented a new and In'iprovcd Ship-[lull Cleaner, of which the following is a full. clear, and exact description. 1

The invention is an improvement in (le MACK Towns vices for cleaning'the hulls of ships of scale, ha rnacle's, paint, iron rust and other crusts,"

and has in view a machine of this character" designed to he manually movedover th'e surfaces to be cleaned, and; embodying rotary cylinder having a series of chisels orcutters, v

the cutters being yieldinglyjpressed tocut-j ting position, and the depth'ofi the cut regulatcd hy-the adjustment of the guide-wheels on which the machine is supported or travels.

Reference is to be had to the accompany ing drawings forming" a part of this specifi cation, in which similarcharacte s of ref erence ndicate correspond ng parts. in all the views. I

Figure l is a sidewiew of a hull clean ng machine constructed in accordance with our] iuventidn, showing the cleaning cylinder and adjacent parts in cross;sectionj;-Fig. 2 i's a f section of the machlnejon the line 2-'2 of Fig. 1 Fig. 3 hiriuvertedplan of the niaehine, with the'hantjll'e. for-moving the maehmc over the surface to be cl'eaued, broken away; and Fig. 4- is-a perspectLve'viewof one of the chisels. Ht

In the construction "of tl lqlllttchllflfl we pro vide a-f rame 5, of approximately rectangular form, having at or near the center upwardly; ertermdiugiirnis 6; At=the junction of- -these arms uliuing hearings] nt c-threaded into or otherwise attached to'the sidebars of the frame and extend outwardly therefrom a substantial distance. Within the bearings 7 is journaled ashaft 8, which is of sullicient length to extend beyond the Said hearings,

where it'- is provided at each end with an eye 9 for coupling'it to asuitahle. motor. At the inside of the frame the shaft 8 is provided with a stop collar 10 at. one side, and ut-the corresponding opposite side is threaded to Between this collar and the nut. is secured a rotary cutting evlinder eomprising an iuneraud anoutershcll IJand l respimtively, and heads 1 4-, the heads hav-" ing iuwardly-projecting flanges [5, on the inner and outer sides of \vlneh the shells 12 the shaft when the nut 11 is t.

of the outer shell 13 being flush with the peripheries of the heads, and the heads having at suitable point-s tongues 165 received 'in corres 'ionding slots in the shells and preventing relative rotation between them. By this constructionthe composite cylinder is substantially rigid on tencd.

V In the shells of the cylinder are provided a series ofalining radiating openings, in which are slidable crustacean cutters or chiscls 17," the chisels, as shown, having cutting points much in the nature of an ordinary doldchisehfwith the cutting edges extending longitudinallyof the cylinder and the chisels arranged in oblique or spiral rows, with 'thechisels of one row staggered or arranged in the intervals of the. chisels of adjacent rows, so that. the surface on which the cutter is acting .will be thoroughly 'cleanetlin the travel of the machine: Each Ichisel 17'has a head 17,'which is arranged, at the inside of the'inner cylinder 12 and bears on a. heavy rubber tube 18, the tubeserving to Yieldingly press the chisels or cutters to'the limit of their outward movement. The heads 17 of the chisels conform to the :urvature of the cylinder and afford the chis'cls a substantialbearing surface on the rubber tube or cushion.

At each side of and adjacent to the rear of the frame is a caster or roller, 19, each having a threaded shank provided with adjusting nuts 20, adapted to bind the frame at opposite side's.and permit ofthe adjustment of the rollers. A third roller or caster 21 ,farranged centrally at the frontof the 'ma'chine' is threaded through the frame and provided with a lock-nut 22, the lock-nut in.

the form of the invention shown serving. to

secure one end of a casing 23, curved over and covering the top of the cutting cylinder. The roller of the caster- 21 is constructed with a beveled cutting edge 21. to cut into the crusts on the surface being cleaned and keep the cutters of the cylinder at. a uniform distance from this surface. 24 extends from the rear side of the frame, to which it. is suitably secured by bolts or other devices 25, one. of which secures this side of the casing 23 in place, the casing inwardly extending A. handleing'extcnded downwardly sullieicutly farat the front of the rollers 19 to prevent the. cuttings from being thrown against the op- .erators hand grasping the handle 24. The

and I3 respectively hear the outer surface I upwardly-extendedarius 6 of the frame at the top are connected together by a 'crossbar 26, which serves as a handle for pressin the machine to the surface being cleaned.

In the operation of the machine, the operator gras s the handle 26 with his rig t hand and die handle 24 with. the left, and

the cutter is set in motion by connectin it. with a suitable motor.

The machine is t en moved over the surface bythe aid of the handle 24, while 'it is firmly pressed to place b the handle'26, the cutters operatin to cli aan off the crustaceans in't-he travel 0 the machine, theblow 'of each cutter being cushioned as it strikes the crusts, by the elastic tube 18. The depth of the cut is regulated by the adjustment of the casters or rollers 19 and 21. v

Having thus described our invention, we

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a machine for cleaning a surface of scale, barnaele and other crusts, a frame, a crustacean cutter carried by the. frame, and

a wheel supporting the frame in advance of the cutter, having a cutting edge to cut into -the crusts.

2. In a machine for cleaning a surface of scale, barnacles and other crusts, a. wheelsupported fram'e adapted to be moved over the surface to be cleaned, a cylinder journalcd on the frame, having a series of cutters slidable therein, and an elastic tube on which the cutters seat, arranged within the cylinder.

3. In a machine for cleaning a surface of scale, barnacles and other crusts, a frame, a rotary crustacean cutter carried by the frame, and wheels supporting the frame,

adapting the cutter to be moved overthe said surface, with one of said wheels ar ranged at the front of the cutter and constructed with a cutting edge to cut into the crusts and maintain the cutter atsubstaniially. a uniform distance from the said sur- I 4. In a machine for cleaning a surface of scale, barnacle'and. other crusts, a rectangular frame, a rota crustacean cutter-journaled within the rame, wheels supporting the frame at both the front and rear of the cutter, a handle extending from the frame rearwardly, arms extending upwardly from each side of the frame at the axis of the cutter, a handle connected to the arms, and

a-casing connected to the frame and curved about the upper portion ofthe cutter underneath the last-named handle.

In a machine for cleaning a surface of scale, barnacles and other crusts, a cylinder havinga series of cutters having longitudinally-extending cutting edges and arranged in oblique or spiral rows, with the cutters of one row arranged in the intervals'of the cutters of an adjacent row.

6. In a machine for cleaning a surface of scale, barnacle's and other crusts, a cylinder having inner and outer shells provided with alining radiating openings, and chisels guided-in the several sets of openings in the shells and having a limited; sliding move-'; ment therein. a

7. In a machine for cleaning a surface of scale, barnacles and other crusts, cylinder heads having inwardly-projecting flanges, inner and outer shells respectively bearing on the inner and outer faces of thefianges and having interfitting portions, with the heads securing them against relative rota-.

tion, a shaft on which the heads are arranged, having means for binding them together, an elastic tube a'rran ed within 'the 

